Jalapeno-cheddar sausage + ?? = dinner bliss

March 19, 2012 2:21 PM

Jalapeno-cheddar sausages go with... WHAT, exactly? Help me figure out dinner tonight, please!

In my ongoing quest to cut both my grocery bill and start cleaning out my perpetually-overstuffed freezer, I have 4 thawed jalapeno-cheddar sausages to make into dinner for two tonight. Eating just sausage and nothing else for dinner seems a little sad--plus it won't satisfy my dinner partner, who is training for a marathon and has an appetite like a horse.

So, what sort of side(s) should I add to my sausages to feel more like a real meal? Or is there something I could add the sausages into? Usually, we grill sausages in the cast iron and put over a Spanish-style lentil salad, but that seems like a weird flavor combination with jalapenos and cheddar. I am totally stumped about how to fill this out into a real meal.

I'm trying to minimize my intake of starches so vegetable-based side recommendations are particularly appreciated. Thanks!

posted by iminurmefi to food & drink (28 answers total)

Braised red cabbage or sauerkraut would work. Your dinner partner would probably also appreciate some roasted potatoes or hearty bread.
posted by peacheater at 2:22 PM on March 19, 2012

I would use them like cured andouille (even though they don't really taste the same). If you can forgive a self-link, here is a post from my blog with one idea. Basically, you cook some grits (or polenta), then serve the sausages on top with sauteed onions and peppers.

Actually, you could just cook the onions and peppers with the sausages and eat them like that. That's a time-honored sausage-eating tradition.
posted by rossination at 2:24 PM on March 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Mashed potatoes? Green beans?
posted by bquarters at 2:24 PM on March 19, 2012

Mac and Cheese!
posted by iamabot at 2:25 PM on March 19, 2012 [3 favorites]

Cook them then cut them up and eat them with or in pasta? With or without a plain-ish tomato sauce?
posted by bquarters at 2:25 PM on March 19, 2012

(With broccoli)
posted by iamabot at 2:25 PM on March 19, 2012

If you don't want to go the cabbage route, I eat sausages (usually broiled) with roasted vegetables of various sorts -- you could do a mixture of root vegetables -- you could eat the less starchy ones and your dinner partner could eat the starchy ones -- try turnips, kohlrabi, carrots and potatoes. Add a small side salad if you'd like or perhaps a sliced up tomato with salt and pepper.
posted by peacheater at 2:25 PM on March 19, 2012

yum! i'd dice them up and cook them up with black beans, onions, tomatoes, and peppers. or make an omelet!
posted by ghostbikes at 2:26 PM on March 19, 2012 [4 favorites]

I like to put chopped jalapeno-cheese sausages in baked pasta dishes - to reduce starches and increase vegetables, you could replace the pasta with cauliflower.
posted by muddgirl at 2:27 PM on March 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Dice 'em up and use them as the protein in a pot of jambalaya?
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:28 PM on March 19, 2012

I'd probably do roasted sweet potatoes and a spicy, lime and cilantro slaw sort of like this.
posted by mostlymartha at 2:28 PM on March 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Spanish rice.
posted by hermitosis at 2:32 PM on March 19, 2012

cut it up and toss them in some eggs as they scramble. breakfast for dinner.
posted by imagineerit at 2:33 PM on March 19, 2012

I like to slice sausages, or remove from casing if raw, and sauté with onion and peppers until everything is cooked and soft. Then throw a bunch of chard or kale (cleaned and trimmed and chopped) on top and stir until it is mostly wilted. Usually we eat this over quinoa. A squeeze of lime and good dash or two of hot sauce and maybe a little dollop of sour cream on top is tasty!
posted by Swisstine at 2:33 PM on March 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

I would sub them for chorizo in chilaquiles.
posted by carrienation at 2:49 PM on March 19, 2012

I'd serve them with Huevos Rancheros, if you have the stuff around.
posted by peagood at 3:00 PM on March 19, 2012

Slice them, saute them, add some baby kale and saute that, add some eggs and scramble all that together.
posted by The corpse in the library at 3:04 PM on March 19, 2012

I prefer to eat anything-cheddar sausages in a bun (or, in our case, low-carb tortilla wrappings), with the kind of sides that would go with hot doggy-type meals. Potato salad would be delicious; garlicky roasted vegetables would also be good.
posted by Lyn Never at 3:06 PM on March 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Beans, sauteed onions, peppers and corn bread! Yum.
posted by jennstra at 3:11 PM on March 19, 2012

Slice them up, then put them in a quesadilla with monterey jack, caramelized onion, sauteed greens, and mushrooms.
posted by lotus-eater at 3:20 PM on March 19, 2012

One of your side dishes could be thinly sliced zucchini and summer squash sauteed with garlic and onions.
posted by runningwithscissors at 3:25 PM on March 19, 2012

If you like beer at all, "Jalapeno-cheddar sausage" pretty much cries out for beer. (The protocol I learned from my uncles is that you stand around and talk about sports and cows and splash beer on the sausages periodically while they're cooking.)
posted by brennen at 3:25 PM on March 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Rice, mac and cheese, tortillas, chili, soup.
posted by curious nu at 3:57 PM on March 19, 2012

black beans or refried beans and Spanish rice.
posted by plinth at 4:32 PM on March 19, 2012

There is a great cabbage and sausage recipe in Mark Bittman's Kitchen Express. It's searchable at Google Books.
posted by Wordwoman at 4:40 PM on March 19, 2012

Ranch style beans from a can!
posted by tamitang at 5:23 PM on March 19, 2012

OKRA!

And brown rice.
posted by devymetal at 6:06 PM on March 19, 2012

I came in to suggest something like what ghostbike already suggested, I see. Jalapenos and cheddar says Tex-Mex flavors to me, so, rice, black beans, tomatoes, cilantro, etc., would taste great, I bet.
posted by emelenjr at 8:05 AM on March 20, 2012